Series: 13 days of Oncology with Kishan Sivakumar
Blood cancer is a variant of cancer that affects “the production and function of…blood cells”, largely starting “in [one’s] bone marrow” (“Blood Cancers”). This spread affects stem cells in the bone marrow, which “mature and develop into…red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets”, by interrupting the development process with “uncontrolled growth of an abnormal type of blood cells” which interfere with processes like “fighting off infections” (“Blood Cancers”). These interferences cause the development of either Leukemia, Lymphoma, or Myeloma, all of which are considered predominant variants of blood cancer (“Blood Cancers”). Leukemia is “found in [one’s] blood and bone marrow” and is “caused by the rapid production of abnormal white blood cells”, which are unable “to fight infection…and…produce red blood cells and platelets” (“Blood Cancers”). Furthermore, Lymphoma “affects the lymphatic system”, which is responsible for producing immune cells, by creating abnormal lymphocytes that “multiply and collect in [one’s] lymph nodes and other tissues” and interfere with the immune system (“Blood Cancers”). Myeloma, the last common type of blood cancer, affects plasma cells, which are “white blood cells that produce disease- and infection-fighting antibodies”, by causing the immune system to be weakened and “susceptible to infection” (“Blood Cancers”). These variants of blood cancer are common in the younger populace, with “childhood leukemia [accounting] for about 25 percent” of cancer in children (“Blood Cancers”).
Sources:
“Blood Cancers.” Hematology.org,
https://www.hematology.org/education/patients/blood-cancers.
“Blood Cancers.” Yale Medicine, Yale Medicine, 28 June 2022,
https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/blood-cancers#:~:text=Leukemia%20is%20cancer%20
of%20white,immune%20cells%20(myeloid%20leukemia).
Image: https://www.medanta.org/patient-education-blog/common-types-of-blood-cancer
